Speak looking into each other’s eyes. There is no other way to understand each other: pay maximum attention without ever getting distracted. Mauro Dori and Mauro De Paoli they are deaf and are bilingual. They have learned to express themselves with their voices but also use Italian sign language. (in the photo from the left Stefania Petullà, Mauro De Paoli and Mauro Dori)
Communicating with them is simple, just look each other in the eyes and abandon all preconceptions.
They are “Inclusive” teachers and give Lis courses, Italian sign language, in schools and wherever requested.
They will be the ones to manage a very special meeting will be held in Azzate on May 4th from 3.30pm to 7pm (recreational social center via Alessandro Volta, 24 Azzate – Entrance 10 euros) . Is called “SSHHH Party” and provides that the participants, maximum fifty, let them never speak. But they will not even hear and will have to express themselves only through writing or signs. A great challenge that arises from a larger project.
«We decided to organize this event after learning that in November the Varese area will host the Eurocap, the highest European basketball competition for deaf athletes – he explains Stefania Petulla, of the Pro Loco of Azzate, promoter of the initiative. We made contact with the organizers, ASD GS Ens Varese and that’s how we met Mauro Dori. Hence the idea of offering a group of people a mini course to learn sign language so as to be able to welcome and communicate with the basketball players who will also arrive in Azzate.”
The party is therefore a way to gather volunteers. Those who participate in the meeting on Saturday 4 May will then be able to decide, if they deem it appropriate and if the two teachers understand their abilities, to continue the course: later two-hour meetings will be organized with 35 people and a 30-hour in-depth study.
Mauro Dori, 39 years old and Mauro De Paoli, 47 have been part of for many years GS ENS Varesea sports group affiliated with the National Deaf Organization that boasts, to date, numerous championships won in various sports disciplines including minigolf, cycling, volleyball and, of course, basketball.
«Our journey starts from afar, when we attended school as children – he explains Mauro Dori who lives in Varese – At the time, thirty, forty years ago, the teachers were poorly trained and the classmates didn’t know how to treat us. We were both victims of bullying. They were very tough years. Following the lessons was an arduous task: as long as the teachers spoke facing us everything was fine, but if they had their backs to us it was impossible for us to follow. Our parents, both deaf, didn’t know how to relate to a reality that didn’t have the tools to welcome us. Then the support teachers arrived, but much later and often they were not prepared to handle deaf and dumb children.”
A similar path was that of Mauro De Paoli who attended schools in Vergiate and now lives in Somma Lombardo: «Classmates teased us about the sound of our voices. For a long time we were isolated, in elementary school and in middle school. But the most difficult obstacle was the university: the classrooms were too big and we couldn’t read lips. So both Mauro and I stopped: now he’s a worker and I’m a bank employee. But from our journey came the strength to say that the time had come to change things. I have two daughters, both deaf and dumb, and I want a different life for them.”
A determination and energy that they knew how to channel: founding a sign language school, “InclusiVA”, where they are teachers and tutors and train communication assistants and a start up, Unik3: «It’s a university which also allows deaf people to have qualifications equivalent to a degree, we operate in collaboration with the telematic universities recognized in Italy” But the “two Mauros” have also always been lovers of sport and this is how the idea of carry forward the GS End Varese project. «We have bocce, volleyball, soccer, tennis, cross country and basketball teams. Athletes from all over Europe participate in the international tournament. In Varese there will be more than three hundred and they will all be hosted atUNAHOTELS in Varese”.
Everything organized to perfection, even the sponsor is more unique than rare: the red and white club has the support by Mady Gio, stage name of Ioana Madalina FilipOnlyFans influencer, of Romanian origins but resident in for many years Busto Arsizio. «It was incredible – they explain – she contacted us. She is passionate about basketball and knew our story and decided to sponsor us. A real surprise: for once we didn’t have to knock from door to door to collect some money.”
Now it’s the Varese people’s turn: we need to put our faces… and our hands into it. «Learning sign language requires practice and dedication, but it can be an effective way to communicate with deaf people and to be inclusive towards them – conclude Mauro Dori and Mauro De Paoli – Recognition and support for sign language also represent an act of respect for the linguistic and cultural diversity of deaf people. Instead of viewing sign language as an “inferior” form of communication, it is important to recognize it as a language in its own right, complete and complex».
To participate in the SSHHH Party you need to book on 340 – 7044972, only by sending an SMS
